When Paul Sufka, MD, a rheumatologist with HealthPartners Medical Group and Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., wants to connect with his colleagues or keep abreast of the latest rheumatology journal articles, he turns to Twitter. Dr. Sufka is one of many rheumatologists who have found effective ways to incorporate social media into their medical…
No matter where you practice, rheumatology clinics are extremely busy. And in that hustle and bustle we find an uncomfortable jostling of priorities between delivering optimal care for as many patients as possible and upholding education for teachers and learners at all levels. Because salary usually comes from seeing more and more patients, teaching is…
Time certainly flies, and 2018 marks the second year that rheumatologists who see Medicare patients are operating under the new Quality Payment Program (QPP) created by the Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). MACRA repealed the Fee-for-Service model under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula and transitioned Medicare reimbursement to a system more overtly…
Understanding your compensation is critical before you decide to accept a job. In the world of medical practices or groups, however, this understanding is even more essential, because a wide variety of compensation structures for physicians exists. These compensation models can dictate not only what a physician will make in the near future, but also…
Several years ago, Ed Herzig, MD, and his wife, Andrea (Andi), spent one week on a Smithsonian cruise that traveled along the western part of the Amazon river, the world’s second longest river, which cuts across seven South American countries. They actually swam in the river, fished for piranha and spotted primitive Peruvian river villages….
You see a patient for the first time to establish care for Sjögren’s disease. She complains of dry eyes, dry mouth and diffuse arthralgias. You do not appreciate any synovitis on physical exam. Of note, you are the fourth rheumatologist she has seen during the past year. Toward the end of the clinic visit, she…
There is an old adage that there are two types of people—lumpers and splitters. For some, people are easily categorized into liberal vs. conservative, Democrat vs. Republican, Donald Trump supporter vs. Hillary Clinton supporter. For others, everyone is a snowflake, and what makes us different is much more important than what makes us the same….
The Rheumatology Research Foundation has been actively involved with the NIH’s Accelerating Medicines Partnership for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (AMP RA/SLE) program, launched in 2014 as a public–private partnership to spur development of new therapeutic options for RA and lupus. Recently, the NIH released new datasets that will help clinical investigators accelerate therapies…
In the complex web of interactions between systemic inflammatory response, rheumatic disease and disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), what is the potential for using rheumatologic therapies to treat other medical conditions linked to inflammation? Some medical researchers have looked at cardiac conditions, and others have examined the overlap with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Positive effects…
When Harry Spiera, MD, stepped out of the New York University School of Medicine in 1958, rheumatology was in its infancy. Obviously, much has changed for both the physician and the specialty over the 58 years between then and his recent retirement. “Early on, rheumatology was the most clinical of the specialties, because the science…